Homefront: The Revolution

Homefront Returns With Revolution In The Air

In an alternate reality, THQ would still exist and Homefront 2 would probably have come out already. Unfortunately, what really happened is entirely different. THQ closed original Homefront developer Kaos Studios and partnered with Crytek for a sequel. FPS experts in their own right thanks to Far Cry, Crytek assigned the franchise to Crytek UK – the studio born from the demise of TimeSplitters developer Free Radical. After THQ folded, Crytek acquired the Homefront franchise and is now working with Deep Silver to put out Homefront: The Revolution.

While the release of the game next year constitutes a victory of sorts for a title that could have otherwise never seen the light of day, in the world of Homefront, things aren't so rosy. It's four years after the events of the original, and the Korean People's Army (KPA) still controls America. Homefront: The Revolution takes place in Philadelphia, and players are placed in the role of Ethan Brady. Brady isn't a soldier, but just another conquered American. In joining the resistance, Brady and his compatriots must recruit fighters and grow the organization by building bases and safehouses, and hitting back at the KPA by any means necessary.

Given the resistance's guerilla tactics, objectives include hit and runs, assassinations, ambushes, and other sneaky strikes. The tools of your trade will be crafted weapons from found materials – including your own gun, which has four customizable sections: the scope, the underbarrel (the grip), barrel (silencers, etc.), and conversion (turning a sub-machine gun into a light machine gun, for example). During the game's demo we crafted a molotov cocktail and a strapped an IED onto a remote-control car. The RC car was then driven through a checkpoint and used to blast open a jail door.

Philadelphia under KPA rule is a broken city. The army's rule is felt on the street corners, and neighborhoods are filled with detritus, propaganda screens, security drones, and citizens displaced in their own city. The world has a day and night cycle as well as dynamic weather using the Cryengine, and Crytek UK says that the open world evolves as it goes on. What this is referring to and to what degree is unknown, but it's a safe bet that your actions will be at the center of its change.

Revolution also has a co-op component set in the same world, but that mode is unconnected to the single-player experience. Details are scarce at the moment, but co-op involves fighting for territory in an ever-shifting battlefield.

It's been a long development road for the game, and for the America in Homefront: The Revolution, the fight is just beginning.

Homefront: The Revolution comes out for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Mac, and Linux in 2015.